Erik McCoy secured the bag and got himself quite a nice deal. The 2019 second round draft pick has been one of the best at what he does since entering the league. And now he’s being paid for it. The deal is a five year extension worth $63.75M making his yearly earnings on average $12.75M.
Extending McCoy is a huge piece for the Saints who are in a win now mode. Securing an offensive lineman of that high value for that long provides security. The Saints won’t have to worry about center for a long time.
With the interior offensive line a concern for a lot of people the extension is huge, especially the interior of the line. Whoever plays at guard this year, next year, the year after that; they get to play knowing they have reassurance with McCoy next to them. They won’t need to be a top tier player, but just good enough.
McCoy is more than likely about to enter his prime if it hasn’t begun already. Smart move by the Saints prioritizing a huge part of their team. He’s a super bowl player on a super bowl hopeful team.
If you prefer to listen in on pods or videos rather than read, I cover everything in this article in this video:
Whose next?
McCoy was one of the big name players due for a payday and he’s the first one to get an extension. But whose next then? The guys due for a payday consist of Marcus Davenport, Deonte Harty, David Onyemata, and Bradley Roby. Those are the big names due for a contract but P.J. Williams, Justin Evans, and Tanoh Kpassagnon might become a priority as well after the season.
I think next up on the list for an extension is Onyemata. I think the Saints and Onyemata will find a way to stay together.
Davenport’s case is interesting. The Saints probably have a price set for Davenport and it might be smart for him to sign it now rather than later. Say he misses half the season, that offer from the Saints goes down. It’d be smart for Davenport to sign it now and secure maybe some extra money in the case he misses some significant time.
Another scenario is that Davenport has a huge year and tests out the market because the Saints won’t budge on pricing and value. If Davenport believes he can play the full year and higher his value then he should do that. It’s a very interesting scenario for both sides of the negotiations.
The last one I want to talk about is Deonte Harty. This one intrigues me the most. The Saints after the draft signed Rashid Shaheed who was a high prospect returner. We didn’t get to see him practice during camp or play in the preseason because he’s recovering from a torn ACL.
So is this a case where the Saints believe Shaheed can be a plug and replace for Harty or do they want to pay Harty a potential 4 year $20M deal? It could be something where the Saints just signed a UDFA guy as a camp body, but they kept him around on the practice squad which means something of significance.
It’s not something where they can have a camp battle either. Deonte will be a free agent so they can’t keep him around to compete. Very interesting case and the Saints like developing special teams guys so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
Injury Report
The injury report for the Saints is the same as it was yesterday. It’s looking more and more like Michael Thomas will play Sunday and Paulson Adebo will not. Of course things can change but it’s smart not to rush injuries like Adebo’s.
If Adebo is limited Friday it might be a gameday decision. I wouldn’t count on Adebo playing which is okay. The Saints won’t need him as much against the Falcons as they would week two against the Buccaneers.
Transactions
The Saints signed guard Wyatt Davis off the Giants practice squad.
Offensive lineman Tanner Owen was waived with a non football illness.
Wide receiver Jontre Kirklin was in the building for a visit of some sort. Possibly a workout.
LB/DB Isaiah Pryor was waived from injured reserve.
Written by Kadin Janisch
Related articles here
